Wage growth, however, disappointed, as average hourly earnings
rose 0.1% month-on-month in February and rose 2% over the prior
year.

February marks the 12th
straight month of jobs gains over 200,000.

Over the past three months, job
gains have averaged 288,000.

The unemployment rate, at 5.5%,
is at its lowest level since May 2008.

The labor-force participation
rate was at 62.8% in February.

According to the BLS,
job gains occurred in
food services and drinking places,professional and business services,
construction, healthcare, and transportation and warehousing. Employment
in mining was down over the month, with jobs in mining declining
by 9,000 in February.

In February, food services and
drinking places added 59,000 jobs. The industry had added an
average of 35,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months,
according to the BLS.

Via Bloomberg, here's a quick overview of what Wall Street was
looking for:

Nonfarm payrolls: +235,000

Unemployment rate: 5.6%

Average hourly earnings, month-on-month:
+0.2%

Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: +2.1%

Average weekly hours worked: 34.6

January's report was also
revised slightly lower, to show payrolls grew by 239,000, lower
than the 257,000 that was initially reported.